A publication of AAEA

Opinion Articles

Rural Development Policy

The election of 2016 was a “system” election. Neither candidate was popular. Voters either affirmed or rejected the performance of the American version of a market economy. That economy has failed people in a large swath of the country. The Electoral College performed as our founders intended. All people matter.

Fisheries Management

Bromley’s (2015) paper “Correcting the Whimsies of U.S. Fisheries Policy” critiques economists’ role in U.S. fisheries policy, but the issues are not unique to the United States. There are alternate valid perspectives regarding the give-away of ITQs, lack of stewardship, resource rent and communities, and criticism of Gordon and Hardin.

Fishery policy is based on a false notion of property rights, belief that industry profits measure economic efficiency, and utopian visions of stewardship. These fictions arise from bogus economic models created by a small incestuous group of fishery economists. Public policy demands intellectual integrity.

Land Grant System

The Morrill Act of 1862 provided the legislation to establish the Land Grant College System with a mission of educating the "common person." At this time of income inequality, the 1862 institutions should provide leadership and service to its sister institutions of Tribal Colleges, Historically Black Colleges, and Hispanic Serving Institutions.

Food Democracy

Conversations about food production are becoming more mainstream and the Food Democracy is partly to thank for that. However, in these conversations, the tradeoffs between various production methods and price are not discussed enough. Society would benefit greatly from an honest discussion about the tradeoffs of different production methods.

Those who demonize modern agricultural production methods are not always advocating for noble social goals as sometimes argued in the food democracy movement. Some are seeking to limit the use of productive technologies in the service of their own market interest. Incentives can be altered by demanding assertions be science-based.

The modern food system is beseted by criticism from numerous angles, though most of the food movements could be grouped under the term ‘Food Democracy’. However diverse as its members may be, there is a theme among Food Democracy activists, and that is an opposition to big corporations in food.